Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made his first solo campaign appearance Monday for his wife, Hillary, the former U.S. secretary of state who is the leading 2016 Democratic presidential contender.

The country's 42nd president, whose two terms in office enveloped most of the 1990s, told several hundred voters at a political rally in the northeastern state of New Hampshire that Hillary Clinton offers the best chance of restoring "broadly shared prosperity" in the United States.

"I do not believe in my lifetime anybody has run for this job at a moment of great importance who was better qualified by knowledge, experience and temperament to do what needs to be done now," he said.

He made no direct comment about the leading Republican presidential contender, billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, who has attacked both Clintons in recent days. The flamboyant Trump says that Bill Clinton has a "terrible record" with women, alluding to the former president's marital infidelities and his impeachment for lying about an affair with a White House intern during his tenure in office.

The thrice-married Trump said, "The worst thing Hillary could do is have her husband campaign for her. Just watch."

But the former president remains a popular figure in the U.S. and his wife's campaign says they plan to call on him frequently to speak on her behalf.